3 Questions on Grooming related Nippings.
are the matt combs whihc cut the physical matt out better? is it worth paying someone else to groom him? or would that just make him more resentful of grooming time? and whats the best way to deal with nipping while grooming? (I've been giving him a firm "NO" when he bites at the comb. he never intentionally bites me anymore, but gets pretty darn mad at that comb.) |
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| Sounds like you are doing fine.
I use a dematting comb. I find I can work through small, beginning mats quicker and thin out some of the hair. It is hot where we live, and thinning Abbi's hair is a good thing. I cannot think today. But there's an under coat brush with metal curved bristles. If you brush VERY lightly with that for a few days you will find it picks up a lot of theloose hairs and the dog doesn't mat as much when they get dirt. Let any dirt dry before trying to comb it out. Start with a brush. The under coat rake seems to work better on my Golden Retriever mix than Abbi. The under coat BRUSH thingy works better on Abbi's coat. Their coats get easier to work with as they age. Stick with it. Before he starts getting mad, see if you can slow down and use your fingers to detangle some of the hair. Sometimes it isn't mats, its tangles. That's why I recommend a brush first. Everyone develops their own style, but there are several links that discuss methodologies of brushing a sheepdog without it be a traumatic event for you or your dog. There was a recent link in one of the shedding threads. If I get time I will pick up the link and place it here. I am suppose to be at a meeting in an hour .... Hang in there. Sounds lie you may want to try to make thing more fun for both of you and just avoid the growling at the comb business though. It is possible ... I will get back with the link some time. Unless someone else can do it faster??? 
Hang in there. Make sure you stay in control, but there is always room for changing things up. No need to pull his hair out every grooming session. Sounds like he is willing, especially if he is blaming the comb and not you. He still trusts you. Good time to figure out a better way. |
| Ed I wish I could help! Max is now 13 months and he still hates to be groomed. Its tough because he has to be. I really have to hold him down, and I do little areas at a time. The hardest areas are his chest and behind his legs, he goes nuts when I try to comb them. I keep hoping he will start to like it, but so far no such luck. My groomer gives me a pretty good scolding when I take him in, about needing to brush him more. If anyone has any suggestions, I sure would like to hear them too! |
Tanyathenurse here..........OMG!!!i can so relate!!Mickey isnt an angel in this department!!  its funny he USED to be really good however recently he has turned into an evil spawn!!Brushing him is like a wreslting mach,and of course i win!!mAN mICKEY ATTACKS the brush the comb anything Im using to groom him gently.He is 6months now and I know he is just a baby,but he is a HUGE baby!!!Grooming isnt very enjoyable for him and I fear he will never enjoy it.My collie used to be like this but now Jagger loves being groomed (if he isnt in the mood to play)So yes Id love to get some advice w/ this.Thanks Ed for asking this.....Tanya |
| agingright are you referring to a "slicker" brush when you mention the curved bristles? i have one of those, i used to clean shih tzus at work with that one, but jack acts as though that hurts him, he won't let it near his coat, i figured id move onto that once we got comfortable with grooming in the first place.
Tanya, Jack is 6 months too, it may be part of adolescence from the age ranges im reading. Shelly: this does not bode well, Jack will probly be just like Max, and be resistant until he's over a year. thanks for the responses all |
| To all of you who think this never gets better,
Don't give up hope. It takes a while, with Henry it took at least a year for him to tolerate brushing. I do some stroking with my hands, then brush the same area, then stroke with my hands again (a good way to work out some of the smaller mats). It takes a long time to get through a session even though he never has a full coat but he will lie on the floor without getting up or walking away for as long as I want to brush now. I have made brushing part of our smoochy-love time and Henry does like the attention. And he always gets a treat when we are done. |
| I wouldn't recommend using a slicker on anything but feet and face when finishing up. It ruins their coat, and if it scratches the skin it does hurt. |
| I use the slicker on all dogs, but with tone I have to separate sections and use the brush by brushing up and away from the skin. If I run it along the body, it does scratch her. On the others I can run it along the body, several actually go into a trance it feels so good.
Bewared, excessive slicker use will break hairs so if you want the long flowing coat, be careful. In training use treats to reward good behavior. If puppy behaves for a short time, reward. Make sure they see the reward first and learn they have to behave to receive it. |
Willowsprite wrote: I wouldn't recommend using a slicker on anything but feet and face when finishing up. It ruins their coat, and if it scratches the skin it does hurt.
It shouldn't touch the skin if done properly and is recommended by most groomers experienced in OES - and with show dogs too. It takes a lot of time to go through all of the coat - but you should seperate it into sections and lightly brush through the hair. That's usually the tool of choice I've seen being used on dogs waiting to get into the show ring. What has been recommended to you instead? |
| I have also thought the slicker brush was only used for legs and a for fluffing the hair at the end. While at my last dog show I talked to a few of the people showing OES and they recommended a pin brush without the balls on the end. I did have one from petsmart with the balls and it worked well until the pups turned about 9 months and it removed to much of the hair. At the last show I picked up a pinbrush that has long 3-4 inch bristles and it goes through the coat very easily and when I am done I don't have much hair in the brush. I do line brushing with it and can get done in about 30 minutes. On the face I first use a wide tooth comb and then go over again with a smaller tooth comb to separate the hairs to make it more fluffy. On places like the ears and around the eyes I will use a flea comb. The hair seems a little finer in those places. I use the slicker at the end of the session and they look like a cartoon charcter who has went through the carwash and comes out the other end looking really poofy. LOL
The coat does get easier to work with over time. You can go through some rough patches with it, but keep at it and you will be amazed at the result. If it does get too much, I can say there are so many beautiful shaved sheepies that I have seen these past months that if I wasn't really wanting to show Jack and Annabelle, I would give a cute puppy cut. There are a few conditioners that we have put on the coat that made the coat more manageable, but they made the coat too soft and it laid closer to the body. I found a nice dematting comb a few months ago, but in the spot I used it, it took out too much coat, so I would only use it as a last resort. On places like the arm pits seems to be the worst and the place that I have had to use it on. I just pay extra attention there, and if I am busy and need to brush, I do that area first, it will mat there faster on mine than anywhere else. We have made a routine for the dogs when they were young. They know when the grooming rug comes out that it is time to lay down and get a yummy bone or peanut butter filled kong, ect. When we first started brushing we would break up the grooming session, but now they can lay there happily for as long as it takes. We bathe them every 2 weeks and on the days we bathe it can take a couple of hours from start to finish, so after the bath they get a free run and shake the water out time and then back in for drying and such. I wish you well, it can be a lot of work on some days and a way to bond and relax on others. Good luck. Stormi and co. |
| Ed, Try to separate the matt with your fingers and thin it out. If it causes to much grief for your sheepie cut it off it will grow back. You can try running the wrong side of the brush on your dogs body to get him use to the idea and slowly add grooming. It takes time and patience. |
| I forgot to add that when Oreo went from puppy hair to adult hair it was an on going grooming event some one suggested No More Tangles by Johnson & Johnson it is near children's shampoo spray it on a matt and it loosens it up and it has a pleasant scent. Good Luck! |
Sooooo glad someone said they just CUT the mat out...I do on occassion & ya can't even tell  Cassie has a thin coat with very little undercoat & that tender pink skin just screams sensitive to me. I do treat her just like the girl child I never had. When I taught Kindergarten, the little girls always went to the other teacher because I could never fix their hair right...they did not have mats I'm hoping to be more successful with my 4-footed girlie!  |
| Hi Ed, I put Shaggy in the bathroom to groom him.Tight quarters,he can't move around much,so he has no choice but to keep his butt from wagging all over the place.He use to think we were playing a game and the grooming brushes were a toy.I give him something to chew on to keep him occupied,he goes bonkers for anything that smeels like peanut butter.A spray on conditioner helps get the tangles out with your fingers seperating them.He is proberbly starting to change from his puppy coat to adult coat,this can be a nightmare when it starts to happen,one day no mats and the next mats everywhere.Be patient,a 10 min.session a day could be all it takes to get him use to this being a special time just for you and him to bond. After awhile he will be putty in your hands,or should be.My girls fall asleep while grooming,Shaggy does get comfortable,until I get to his private areas,he gets wide awake then.As if to say,don't get near the family jewels,LOL! Hang in there,it will surpass. |
| m sure it will, right now i give him about half an hour of brushing so he can get used to it, but a lot of it i am just running the comb through hair that i've already combed out so i can get him used to the feel of it and the idea that its not meant to hurt him |
BritPresSyd wrote: Willowsprite wrote: I wouldn't recommend using a slicker on anything but feet and face when finishing up. It ruins their coat, and if it scratches the skin it does hurt. It shouldn't touch the skin if done properly and is recommended by most groomers experienced in OES - and with show dogs too. It takes a lot of time to go through all of the coat - but you should seperate it into sections and lightly brush through the hair. That's usually the tool of choice I've seen being used on dogs waiting to get into the show ring. What has been recommended to you instead? The pin brush, straight steel pins, no balls on the tips. I only use a slicker, as Stormi said, for fluffing up a bit at the end, and for feet and face. The slicker brush really doesn't have the strength in the bristles to go right through the coat I find, not for a thorough grooming anyway. Most people I've talked to have said absolutely no slickers other than touch up areas for a show coat. |
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